“Shall we sit?” Andre asked Dan and Katie. “The kitchen employees and staff are all giving brief statements, but what they know is a man burst into the kitchen waving a gun at them.” He shrugged. “So... I just need you to start at the beginning.”

He had an official-looking pad out; he wasn’t using a smart phone.

“Wow. Pen and paper,” Dan said.

Andre Broussard grimaced. “Old-school. Yeah. I’ll need your signatures.”

Dan looked at Katie. “Well, we’ve learned through the investigation this man was in town and was with the murdered woman we found in the old cemetery. Katie knew both of them. They were the couple who disappeared off the boat the day her parents and a friend were murdered...axes and knives used on them,” he said quietly.

“We were just about to order dinner. New place in town, you know,” Katie said.

Andre Broussard grinned and said in a soft whisper, slightly accented with a bayou twang, “Ghost told you, eh?”

Dan and Katie glanced at each other. “Well, anyway, when he saw Katie and knew that she had seen him, he took off. She pointed him out to me immediately, and I went after him. This place was crowded, and it seemed as though he might try to hide among the patrons. I came in first, but Katie was closer to the kitchen.”

Katie continued the thread. “He had a gun. He forced me in and then terrified the entire staff in the kitchen. He forced us all to one side and then used me and a threat to kill everyone in there to try to force Dan to drop his weapon. I’d gone to help a girl who collapsed, and she happened to do so right by a stovetop. When he came to grab me, I noticed the bubbling gumbo on the stovetop and...” She faltered.

“You stopped him,” the agent said.

“Yes, Special Agent Broussard,” Katie said quietly.

“Andre, guys, please. Everyone just calls me Andre.”

Dan nodded.

“Okay... Read what I’ve written. If it’s what happened as you told it to me, just sign it please,” he said.

Dan read the rendition Andre had put down. It was exactly what they’d said.

He looked at the agent. “Uh...damn, you’re good.”

Andre grimaced. “I can write fast. I guess it’s a good ability.” He hesitated. “I’m from Louisiana. This is... Well, it can’t mean as much to Adam and me as it does to you, Katie, but it means a lot to us. So...any time I can help you, in any way, reach out. I do know the area well. I was raised in Lafayette, did a tour in the military after college, and when I found out about the Krewe of Hunters, I applied to the Academy. Then I worked in New York City with the team there.”